Citizens Against Syria Strike Lighting Up Lawmakers' Phones

6 Sep 2013

Several congressional offices have confirmed to Breitbart News they are receiving thousands of phone calls and emails from constituents urging them not to authorize President Barack Obama’s plan for military intervention in Syria.

“There has certainly been an uptick in calls, letters, emails, Facebook posts, etc.,” Kat Cammack, the chief of staff for Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), said in an email to Breitbart News. “I can’t speak for other offices but I know our office has received an incredible amount of correspondence that is 99% DO NOT ATTACK SYRIA!”

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) told Breitbart News he is experiencing the same. “The calls are generic, meaning they’re not coordinated in any way,” Stockman said. “It’s an extremely high volume in the thousands and nearly unanimous in opposition to military action in Syria.”

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) said constituents are even calling his personal home phone number to let them know they oppose war in Syria. “Our phones, emails, and social media platforms are being inundated with West Tennesseans weighing on Syria,” Fincher told Breitbart News. “The consensus–a resounding ‘no.’ Folks are even calling my home phone letting me know they don’t want to see the United States get involved.”

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is also a Navy Reserve Officer, told Breitbart News that his constituents–many of whom are military veterans and active supporters of the U.S. military–are adamantly opposed to U.S. military action in Syria. “To say that the reaction of my constituents to potential U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war has been negative would be the understatement of the year,” DeSantis said. “To date, my office has received 1,188 contacts regarding Syria with the following breakdown: 1,179 opposed to intervention and 9 in favor of intervention.”

DeSantis explained that the opposition comes from lack of faith in this particular mission rather than knee-jerk antipathy to military force.

I have a very strong contingent of veterans and pro-military voters in my district so the reaction is not based on blanket opposition to the use of American military power. Instead, most of my constituents recognize that Syria is in the midst of a bloody civil war in which the dictator Assad is being supported by Iran and Hezbollah while the so-called rebel elements opposing Assad are populated with Sunni Islamists and Al Qaeda jihadists. Because it is not in our national interest to see either side prevail, my constituents are counseling against placing American blood and treasure on the line for what would amount to assistance to Islamists and terrorists.

During his line of questioning of Secretary of State John Kerry at Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee on the ties between the Benghazi terrorist attack almost a year ago and the Syrian conflict, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) pointed out how he has received an overwhelming response of opposition to getting involved in Syria from his constituents, too.

“I have spoken to hundreds of constituents,” Duncan said at the committee hearing, while holding up a stack of papers. “This represents about 300 emails that my office has gotten and not a one, not a one member in my district in South Carolina are the emails of the people that have my contacted my office say, ‘Go to Syria and fight this regime.’ To a letter, they say, ‘no, do not go into Syria. Don’t get involved in their civil war.'”

Duncan added while addressing Kerry that even middle school students in his district understand the issues and are opposed to getting involved in Syria.

“I spoke to eighth graders, about 150 eighth graders, yesterday,” Duncan said. “They get it. They get it that we shouldn’t be drug into somebody else’s civil war where there are no good guys. There are no good guys to get behind here and I can only envision an escalation of this current conflict.”

During a news conference at the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, President Obama suggested Congress may have to ignore the will of voters. “Ultimately you listen to your constituents but you’ve also got to make some decisions about what you believe is right for America,” Obama said.

“I’m not drawing an analogy to World War II, other than to say, you know, when London was getting bombed, it was profoundly unpopular both in Congress and around the country to help the British,” he added.